


combustion,

by houmei



Category: Todd Allison & the Petunia Violet
Genre: M/M, Pointless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 17:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/houmei/pseuds/houmei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a dinner scene and some talk gets the blood flowing. make outs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	combustion,

The restaurant is filled with warm faces, all dark dimples and blemished cheeks framed by curls burnt dry from the salon and side burns cut close to compliment large ears. Everything is dimmed by candle light and lanterns discreetly placed in artificial plants and brushes, giving a single table an inviting glow. Regardless of the lighting it’s dark, dark enough that Meredith has to close his eyes and adjust to the darkness so he can then watch Elijah skim the menu for half a minute before calling a waiter over. His face seems darker than usual, but his eyes are terribly bright, and that really is the perfect word for it: terribly. Meredith muses this lighting would suit him better if he sat closer to the lantern.

They don’t wait long for their food and they eat in a warm silence, which is snuffed occasionally by Elijah’s dreamy compliments and mentions of circumstances throughout the day, most which Meredith has to shush him for. Near the end of their meal he notes a couple whispering harshly behind them. Before he can attempt to pinpoint the language the sound of a chair skidding against polished wood rises sharply above the noise level.

The woman throws her napkin on her plate and grabs her purse, storming off with an unconscious grace that Elijah would later describe as "the queen of hearts marching to do away with one’s head". Her companion grabs his hat and Meredith watches him leave too. Eventually the sound of plates and forks fills the room again and Elijah sputters into his food with a smile.

“Like something out of a picture show, Meredith!”

Meredith arranges his salad quietly and nods. “They forgot to pay.”

—

As expected, Elijah can only talk about the scene at the restaurant after they’ve left and have begun the heavy walk back home. For half the time they spend bumping into each other’s shoulders and trying not to step on cracks on the sidewalk, Elijah comments on the differences between storming off in anger and storming off to reduce anger. Whether or not Elijah is drunk hardly adds to the conversation, or any conversation that Elijah would produce if he was sober. As it turns out, he's only a little tipsy, and Meredith finds himself disagreeing with Elijah when he says the anger after storming off is worse than the anger before it.

“It’s like something in you has gone off,” Elijah finally smokes and the relief shows on his face. “And you erupt, and then everyone sees you for what you really are.”

“Not always.” Meredith stares ahead and doesn’t realize Elijah would rather have him look at him while he talks. It’s a partial reason as to why he enjoys dinner so much- because Meredith is facing him, for an hour out of the whole day.

“I don’t think anyone knows what someone is feeling before they get really mad, but if they did...it’d be pretty bad.” It’d be too obvious for Meredith to try and explain from personal experience, but he knows Elijah will get the hint anyways. Elijah closes his eyes and tries to lean against Meredith, then finds his balance again when Meredith moves away. “Then what does the worst damage? Your image, when everyone sees you at your worse? Or the damage that’s done when you boil up silently inside? Shouldn’t we know which is worse by now? Or aren’t they both potentially noxious in their own ways?”

“I don’t know…” But he does know, and they’ve finally reached their apartment that remains dark and vacant without them- cold and devoid of Elijah’s chatter and Meredith’s hands. Instead of leading them up the stairs, Elijah produces a sucker he bought for a cent that afternoon and loudly unwraps it. “I think you do, Meredith.”

There’s something strange and funny about Elijah’s sullen face when he tosses his cigarette away and replaces it with candy, his eyebrows pinched and lips flat. He removes it with a wet smack and offers it to Meredith. Meredith scrunches his nose and makes his way up the stairs.

“Are you mad at _me?_ ” Elijah asks smoothly, behind him. He isn’t, but Meredith is stumped by the question regardless and looks over his shoulder. Elijah’s hair needs a good run through with a comb and his eyes are tired, but despite that he is handsome as always and seems more handsome now that he thinks Meredith is annoyed with him. Meredith takes the sucker from him and brings it between his teeth, letting it break apart and crumble in his mouth.

 

—

A minute later they’re both tasting cherry, though the stick has long fallen through between the steps and vanished into a darkness that only a stairway could make. Meredith’s fingers reach up into Elijah’s hair and claw lovingly, not clenching, but simply letting his fingers find his scalp and rake along it slowly. Elijah kisses him as if he’s trying to make Meredith forget the entirety of their conversation, and sometimes that honestly works.

They can only think of their mouths fitting together in a way that isn’t immediately sensual, but more like playfully pecking- short, consistent kisses that fill their ears and quicken their breath. It’s Elijah that drags his thumb up Meredith’s chin and pushes his lower lip down, so that when they meet again and the gap closes Meredith can only taste what’s left of the fading sweetness on Elijah’s tongue. Soon it’s all gone, and it’s only Elijah he savors without breath, without a single hint of breaking apart and letting the air back into their chests. Elijah lets out a breathy noise, something that compels Meredith to gently scratch the nape of his neck just the way he likes.

Elijah has Meredith pressed against the door to their apartment, but it’s Meredith who has his hands curled into Elijah’s suit, gripping the lapels and tugging him closer again to tilt his head and kiss him with such firmness and depth that he sighs through his nose and molds his back against the door. For a moment Meredith knows Elijah is watching him while they kiss, just barely catching a hint of blue from under those lids when he opens his eyes and shuts them again. Elijah’s hands can’t find Meredith’s back so they encase the back of his neck and then his jaw.

One of them hums when Meredith slides his arms around Elijah’s neck and keeps him there. Elijah keeps one arm above Meredith’s head, as if in some attempt to ensnare him more than he already has. Minutes leak past them and Elijah mouths Meredith’s name against his lips long after they’ve clung and latched onto each other's clothing. Elijah smiles wide when he sees his face and flushed cheekbones, but Meredith knows how to distract him again. He cups Elijah’s jaw, kisses his lips and then below his nose and right on his chin. The face Elijah makes after Meredith finally pulls away is almost distressed.

“Let’s go inside.” Meredith smiles and Elijah presses against him, his breath sinking a too warm spot into his shoulder. “Mm. In a minute.”

“Maybe.” He says a little teasingly. Elijah pulls back and lets Meredith see the heat in his eyes, a good kind of heat that has nothing to do with anger, or the combustion of one’s emotions that is the result of that anger. Like a lollipop cracking and crumbling away, or perhaps the skidding of a chair against the floor- Elijah and Meredith understand the differences between that anger and the next. But with such dire moments like these, they can’t be bothered to tell one from the other. Meredith knows this heat and without breaking their stare, turns the knob and opens the door.


End file.
